Northern Ireland

Memorial gravestone in honour of Co Antrim woman unveiled in Hong Kong

A memorial gravestone to a Northern Ireland-born woman has been unveiled in Hong Kong. Elizabeth McBride, who was born in Ballycarry in Co Antrim, was buried in the Happy Valley Cemetery in November 1876. Picture by Rebecca Sin
A memorial gravestone to a Northern Ireland-born woman has been unveiled in Hong Kong. Elizabeth McBride, who was born in Ballycarry in Co Antrim, was buried in the Happy Valley Cemetery in November 1876. Picture by Rebecca Sin A memorial gravestone to a Northern Ireland-born woman has been unveiled in Hong Kong. Elizabeth McBride, who was born in Ballycarry in Co Antrim, was buried in the Happy Valley Cemetery in November 1876. Picture by Rebecca Sin

A memorial gravestone honouring a Northern Ireland-born woman has been unveiled in Hong Kong.

Elizabeth McBride, who was born in Ballycarry in Co Antrim, was buried in the Happy Valley Cemetery in November 1876.

However, the mother-of-five was laid to rest in an unmarked grave with only a stone block on it, inscribed with the number `4258'.

Mrs McBride was the mother-in-law of Dr Jose Rizal, who is considered a national hero of the Philippines.

Elizabeth and her husband, James, a soldier in the 28th Regiment of Foot in Belfast in 1868, had five children, including a daughter called, Josephine, who went on to marry Dr Rizal.

Elizabeth died in Hong Kong in 1876, while her husband was posted there, a month after giving birth to Josephine, the couple's fifth child.

Decades later, when James's sight began to fail, Josephine accompanied her father to Hong Kong after they heard about Dr Jose Rizal, a doctor and ophthalmologist, in the hope he might be able to help.

When he couldn't, James returned home however Josephine remained as the couple had fallen in love.

Dr Rizal, who was also a novelist, had also advocated Philippine independence from Spain.

He was executed by the authorities in 1896 and there are monuments and street names dedicated to him across the Philippines.

It is believed that after her husband's death, Josephine played a part in the movement fighting for independence.

She later later returned to Hong Kong, where she died in 1902 at the age of 25 from tuberculosis.

She was also laid to rest in an unmarked grave and there is no history of it, although some believe she may have been laid to rest with her mother.

This week, 145 years after her death, a grave stone was erected in honour of Elizabeth.

The grave stone was made possible with the help of the Knights of Rizal, a fraternity which works to keep the memory of Dr Rizal alive.

The design for the grave stone, which also references Josephine, was approved by the Bracken family descendants in Northern Ireland.